schedule of what´s going down

I leave tomorrow morning (tues. Oct. 16th) at 5am to catch my flight, as I am leaving for Turkey. I will be there the next 2 wks. I will fly from Barquisimeto, VZ to Caracas, VZ, then onto Rome, and landing in my final destination of Instanbul, Turkey. Once I get back this is how the rest of my year of 2007 will look:

*Going to Falcon October 28th-30th (another state in VZ, the very next day I arrive back from Turkey)
*Then straight onto Caracas, VZ (the capital city, until friday November 2nd)
*Barquisimeto, VZ (my city of stay while here, until November 7th to do some translation work and also sing at a church on November 4th)
*Merida, VZ (November 8th-1st week in December)
*November 20th-23rd is a Missions Conference I will be participating in while in Merida
*Zulia, VZ to help in the School of Missions (December 7th-9th)
*Barquisimeto, VZ (December 10th-13th)
*Island Margarita for School of Missions (December 14th-16th)

And the rest is up in the air....! :) But that´s a good bit for now, don´t ya think???

RADIO TIME!!

Just a quick note: Today I will be speaking on a local radio station here in Barquisimeto (the town I am staying in). The pastor wants to interview Fernanda and I both, and to dicuss the topic of Missions. This is an EXCITING TIME, PLEASE KEEP US IN YOUR PRAYERS!!!

A few pics from the office

Showing off pics of Homer (my fiance who makes me smile BIG) and my AWESOME Family to everyone at the office! Which they liked VERY much. :)



From left to right: Graciela (missionary and teacher from Argentina, Fernanda (my best friend and sister in the Lord, also a great minister of GOD!, Me (who am I???), Cook lady (forgot her name...my bad!), Miriam (a very sweet lady who will teach me Spanish), and lastly Eunice (pregnant chica who has a beautiful singing voice!)



A few extra christian ladies we met at the Salon (while I got therapy on my back= PRAISE THE LORD FOR THAT!)

Alo Folks!

On Thursday Fernanda and I left to travel to a different state to a small town called El Sombrero- The Hat. It took us 13 hours to finally arrive at our final destination, after having awakened at 5am that day. Being very exhausted and sweaty after taking 3 different buses to get there, Fernanda was asked to preach that night. In spite of how tired we were we could not refuse, so we hurried and got to our host home to shower and prepare for the service that evening. Showering in the bathroom was an experience I have felt and done before, but obviously not prefer. However, that’s the life of a missionary…never knowing what to expect and always be grateful no matter what! The house where we were at did not receive their water during the day, only at night. So at night they fill up a big plastic trash bucket of water, and then that’s all you have to use for the daytime.

So to take your shower you fill up small buckets of water, pour it all over yourself, and whatnot…sure you have gotten the point by now. The problem is that I have very long and thick hair. It would take the whole trash bucket just wet it!! So giving up on trying to wet it thoroughly I said eh, whatever- I just shampooed semi-dri/wet and rinsed as best as possible. Then to brush your teeth you use the same water from the trash bucket. I was kinda grossed out because when it got emptier you could see all kinds of dirt in the water when I would scoop it for my teeth. So what did I do?? Chewed a lot of gum that I bought before I left to come to VZ. Haha… Along with trying to use some of my mineral drinking water they bought me to do the job with my mouth.

Okay, so Fernanda preached that night at the church and the Pastor talked a little about me. Then the next night Fernanda gave her teachings on Missions to a packed church. Before starting with what she has planned she introduced me to everyone, and had me come up and say a short word of encouragement to the people using scripture. I also sang them a song on the guitar. This was interesting because all they had was an old out of tune classical guitar. The church was too big to play acoustically, so they could not hear me too well. Along with the fact I had to sit in a chair because I had no guitar strap to use. Then I had nowhere to place my music. So the setup was me sitting in a chair, with Fernanda holding my music in front of me, and the Pastor holding the mic in place. Heh..it was pretty awkward, but the people loved it anyways! The reason being-well a lot of things possibly, but for sure I know one reason is because I sang the song in Spanish. :)





So once the service was coming to a close Fernanda had me come up again to sing another Spanish song, that is very Missions oriented. This time however, the piano player came up and I have to say- he was incredible! He could play any song by memory and ear. So I said forget the guitar! I’m going with the flow of him. So I told him what song and key and he played so well along with me as if we had practiced or something. It was great! So I took the mic and led without the guitar, which I don’t do too often. My guitar oftentimes is sort of my safe guard. I enjoyed it so much. The Pastor liked it so much he asked me to continue into another song! So I led the congregation some more. I know God helped it come so naturally and thanks to Him He helped me learn those Spanish songs I have been rehearsing and studying over. If I hadn’t prepared myself earlier while I was in the States that night would not have gone so successfully the way it did.



Besides that being a major highlight to my day, the other one would definitely have to be the fact that all the pastors we were connected with had motorcycles and when we went to the church and back we got rides on them. And that was awesome! I love excursions like that! Totally my style… :) We left the town of El Sombrero on another early morning of Saturday and got to another state and town called La Victoria- The Victory. The same happened as last time. We showered got ready and Fernanda gave her lesson. This time I did not participate in the service really. I gave a short word saying hi to everyone, but I was fairly exhausted. :( After that we went to the host home, stayed the night and left again in the morning to head back home to Barquisimeto. It’s funny I haven’t even been here too long yet, and already while we were out of town I was missing “home,” and the people in the office we work in everyday.

I´M GOING TO TURKEY!!!!

WOOOHOOO I´M GOING TO TURKEY OCTOBER 16TH-27TH, PLEASE PRAY FOR US!!! Their will be a team of about 20 that will be leaving out of Caracas, VZ to a conference in Turkey. This conference will share about how to win the Muslim Community to Christ around the world. This is very important for us to attend so that as we are teaching others on missionhood around the world and training people, we can share the very important concepts about the Muslims and how to break down walls. We will also be touring the 7 main churches that the Bible speaks about in the book of Revelation. Turkey is an very, very old country that is mentioned in Biblical times. It will be a great learning experience as well as a huge time of ministry there. We will also be participating in a prayer walk around the city of our stay called (Istanbul).

One important factor to make this trip complete is that we will be able to gather enough dollars to afford everything. The Turks do not accept Bolivars, which is the Venezuelan cash currency, so we have to take hard routes to try and get U.S. dollars. Turkey will accept dollars and euros. However, the Lord has provided greatly so far and we know He will continue to provide!! I can use my credit card over there for things I do not need physical cash for however. So if any one would like to contribute in any way you can send checks, money orders, or cash to my home address:

Morris Residence
8344 Chatham Rd.
Medina, OH 44256

And my mother will gladly deposit any offering into my bank account for me, to be exchanged.

Gracias y Dios Te Bendiga
(thank you and God bless you!)
Servant to the Nations

A Day Roaming Venezuelan Streets

Well, this morning was very interesting...Fernanda and I had to run some arons before entering the office today. Let me tell you- arons are not fun espcially when it is so HOT outside! I was dripping in sweat as we walked, walked fast, and ran down streets hopping in and out of buses and stores. Only trying to find what we needed to do. Fernanda is semi-new to the city we are staying in also so it was an adventure to both of us together. (not necessarily a fun adventure though) It is very fustrating how long it takes to get from one place to another. It is not like America where if you forgot something at the store you just go back hours or days later and have easy access to Wal-Mart or something. When you buy in Venezuela you want to be sure you purchase everything, because the process is just too tidious. Anyhow- that has been my morning and now I am getting things done in the office, assisting the missionaries.

Chao Baby! ;)

Moving into Action (Already)!

Since my arrival here in VZ I have been busy already! This past weekend on Sat. 29th my missionary partner and friend Fernanda Vielma and I went to a meeting in a home far up into the mountains. I don´t think there were any other houses around them on that mountain because it was high up. ha... No there were some, but they were scattered and most of them a lot lower then where we were. On the drive up the mountain in an old beat down SUV just about stripped of everything but the seats and the steering wheel, the guy offered to me if I wanted to drive. Well- if most of you guys know me I am shy and hesitant about my self and the answers I give people a lot of times. However, if you also know me...I LOVE to DRIVE! :) So I declined at first and then he asked me a few minutes later and I said "aw...why not!" So we stopped on the mountain and exchanged seats. SARAH, ME, GOT TO DRIVE IN VENEZUELA UP A HUGE MOUNTAIN AND IT HAD BEEN ONLY ABOUT 48 HRS. I´VE BEEN IN VZ. I just thought that was awesome!



Everyone should be very proud of me. They drive crazy and the roads are so close to the edge of nothing! I still can´t believe how they trusted a young white chica like me to drive. Anyhow- Once at the home we met several people there who waiting to be taught by my partner Fernanda about missions development in their local churches. She taught two sessions and then we came back to our city of stay. Now mind you we left on this journey for the day at 5:30am in the morning and it took a few hours to get there. Then came back late that same day. While we where in the meeting Fernanda introduced me to the people and I got to say "hello" and give a short sermonette and word of encouragement. The people were greatly blessed, but that was not the end! After the last teaching Fernanda had me come back up and I sang some worship songs acapella in spanish and english. The people were brought to tears and stood up to lay hands on me seeking the Lord in prayer to use me continually while I am here the way He did that day. The people thanked me and wanted to take many pictures with me. It was a good time!